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Wheelchair rugby elite gear up for European qualifier

February 7 - Some of the world's biggest wheelchair rugby stars are gearing up to for the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation's (IWRF) European Qualifier, which got underway at Gormanston College just outside of Dublin today.

National teams from the Czech Republic, Italy, Netherlands and host country Ireland will all attend this IWRF sanctioned event in the hope of earning one of the two available spots left at the European Championship in Antwerp this August.

Organised by the Irish Wheelchair Association of Sport, the host nation, who have been playing the sport since 1997 and have roughly 35 players - both male and female - participating on either a competitive or recreational level, are particularly excited to be hosting the tournament.

"We expect all of the games to be closely fought and hope to earn one of the qualifying places," explained Nicky Hamill, director of the Irish Wheelchair Association of Sport.

"In the past the Dutch team has been our biggest challenge.

"However, over the past few years there has been very little between ourselves and the Czech Republic - always very competitive games.

"Italy is relatively new to the game and we have not played them before, but we are taking nothing for granted there either.

"I suspect they are waiting in the long grass to take a few scalps."

Italy are relatively new to the sport, since it started a little more than two years ago in a region called Veneto - the same area where the country's national rugby side started one hundred years ago, and this will be the nation's first sanctioned tournament that will earn them a position on the IWRF world ranking list.

Team manager Claudio da Ponte says the team have been preparing by going through some unofficial test matches.

"We know that we still have to work very hard to reach the other ranked national teams, but this is a great chance for us, and I know that all players and coaches will give the best they can," he said.

"Every team for us will be a great challenge, but the first match against Holland will say the truth about our chance to qualify for the European Champs."

The Czech Republic wheelchair rugby team is celebrating its 20th anniversary in the sport

Meanwhile, the Czech Republic is celebrating their 20th anniversary in the game, with 30 active players and 10 on the recreational side.

However, like many countries, they still struggle to secure adequate funding, which David Lukes, President of CRWR and coach of the national team, says is their biggest challenge.

"People in Czech Republic respect our sport and everybody around who makes our game possible," he said.

"We have only one big problem, which is finding money and sponsors for our sport.

"Players have to pay a portion of the costs by themselves and this negatively influences the development and growth of wheelchair rugby as a sport; it also has a negative effect on work with rookies and newcomers.

"With that being said, we are lucky to have people and organisations that help us and I would like to thank all of them for their support."

Talking about the upcoming tournament in Dublin, Lukes went on to say: "Ireland and Netherlands are on the same level now.

"I saw both teams during Rugbymania, and they are getting better and better.

"Ireland will have the benefit of home environment and fan support; Netherlands has Thomas Pool back in the national team line up.

"We have the best team since the 2007 European Championship, and we hope that we finish in the first two places to get the opportunity to go to Belgium and place among the best 12 teams in Europe."

Tonight's matches will see the hosts going head to head with the Czechs, followed by a match between the Netherlands and Italy.

Timeline

About the author

Emily Goddard is a subeditor and reporter for insidethegames.biz. She has broken a number of exclusives including that News International had lost their exclusive deal with London 2012 following the phone-hacking scandal that rocked Britain in 2011, Richard Caborn's future as chairman of the Amateur Boxing Association of England was in danger, and she was also the journalist to report the first comments from the IOC following the Russian anti-gay legislation.

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Fact of the day

At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Iranian judoka Arash Miresmaeili was disqualified for weighing in at nearly four pounds above the limit for his weight class of his under-66 kilograms match against an Israeli opponent Ehud Vaks in the first round. It was claimed Miresmaeili had gone on an eating binge to protest the International Olympic Committee's recognition of the state of Israel. Iran does not recognise the state of Israel, and Miresmaeili's actions won praise from high-ranking Iranian officials. Mohammad Khatami, the country's President at the time, was quoted as saying Miresmaili's actions would be "recorded in the history of Iranian glories". He was later awarded $125,000 by the Government - the same amount given to Olympic gold medallists.

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